Mike DeBord: Teams look differently on film than in game

Tennessee offensive coordinator Mike DeBord discusses Saturday's loss to South Carolina during the Knoxville Quarterback Club meeting at Calhoun's on the River on Monday, Oct. 31, 2016.
Chris Thomas/News Sentinel

Inconsistency in its style of play had a role in the Tennessee football team's gut-wrenching 24-21 loss to South Carolina on Saturday.

It's also safe the credit the Gamecocks for looking differently than they previously had on film, Vols offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said.

"South Carolina was trying to take away the long ball," DeBord told members of the Knoxville Quarterback Club at Calhoun's on the River on Monday. "They didn’t want to give up big plays and they didn’t. The other thing is what we see every week, and it’s been interesting, but what we’re seeing on film throughout the week, teams are changing it up. What you practice against is not always what you see in the game. That’s having to adjust with our players and things like that."

DeBord later clarified that the Vols (5-3, 2-3 SEC) "do make changes" in response to a follow-up question from a Club member.

"We continue to do those throughout the entire game," DeBord said. "So, it's not like we're not."

DeBord's appearance comes two days after Tennessee's hopes for a SEC Eastern Division title were turned upside down after a third consecutive loss. The Vols, who produced just two offensive touchdowns in the loss to South Carolina, now need Florida to lose two of its final three SEC games to have a chance at qualifying for the SEC Championship for the first time since 2007. The Gators (6-1, 4-1) play at Arkansas on Saturday and have games against South Carolina and LSU remaining on the schedule.

"I know it was disappointing coming off of a bye week with our execution, but I think a little bit of that had to do with all of the guys, we’re not using excuses because there are none, but the guys we had beat up and hurt, we didn’t get to practice them during the off week," DeBord said. "It hurt our timing a little bit and our inconsistency that way."

Tennessee, playing without running back Alvin Kamara, mustered just 297 total yards against South Carolina, its second-lowest yardage output this season. The Vols' offense had accounted for 24 total points the previous two games, including a 49-10 loss to Alabama on Oct. 15. Their three turnovers on Saturday led to 14 points for the Gamecocks.

One was a fumble caused when freshman running back Carlin Fils-Aime disrupted quarterback Joshua Dobbs' throwing motion in the fourth quarter. A subsequent interception, which came with the Vols trailing 24-21 with 3:42 to play, was the result of Dobbs' late downfield throw intended for Josh Smith.

"The thing I can say to you is this: I know the frustration you have from Saturday," DeBord said. "I can tell you the players and coaches are just as frustrated. It’s just the inconsistency. What we’re doing, we’ve got to go back to work. We’ve got to work on our style of play."